Neurocognitive functioning in early-onset and late-onset older patients with euthymic bipolar disorder

• Autores: Martino, Diego Javier; Strejilevich, Sergio; Manes, Facundo Francisco
• Año de publicación: 2012
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Materia: AGE AT ONSET; BIPOLAR DISORDER; CEREBROVASCULAR DISEASE; FRONTOTEMPORAL DEMENTIA; NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
• Institución: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Objective Most neurocognitive studies have not taken into account the fact that older patients with bipolar disorder (BD) are a heterogeneous population. The main goal of this study was to compare neurocognitive performance and extrapyramidal symptoms in older patients with early-onset BD (EO-BD) and late-onset BD (LO-BD). Methods Euthymic older patients with EO-BD (n = 20), LO-BD (n = 20), and healthy controls (n = 20) were evaluated with traditional clinical instruments and measures of exposure to psychotropic drugs, as well as extrapyramidal symptoms. All subjects completed an extensive neuropsychological battery. Results Patients with EO-BD showed poorer performance than healthy controls in two measures of verbal memory and two measures of executive functions, whereas patients with LO-BD exhibited lower performance scores than healthy controls in almost all of the measures assessed. Impairments in the LO-BD group included even neurocognitive domains typically spared in mixed-age patients. Additionally, there was a trend toward displaying higher extrapyramidal symptoms in the LO-BD group compared with both EO-BD and healthy control groups. In both patient groups, psychosocial functioning was related with executive dysfunction and extrapyramidal symptoms. Conclusions Patients with LO-BD may have more extensive and severe cognitive impairments, as well as higher vulnerability to extrapyramidal symptoms, compared with patients with EO-BD. Cognitive-motor disturbances may help to explain impairments in daily functioning among older patients with EO-BD and LO-BD during remission.
Fil: Martino, Diego Javier. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Strejilevich, Sergio. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva; Argentina
Fil: Manes, Facundo Francisco. Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Neurociencias; Argentina